TIME Magazine: “Last year, a federal program paid out $1.6 billion to cover
free cell phones and the monthly bills of 12.5 million wireless accounts. The
program, overseen by the FCC and intended to help low-income Americans, is
popular for obvious reasons, with participation rising steeply since 2008, when
the government paid $772 million for phones and monthly bills.” Can I give you
the numbers here again? In 2008, the federal government paid $772 million for
phones and monthly bills. Since 2008, since Obama, $772 million has become $1.6
billion. It’s more than doubled.

“But observers complain that the program suffers from poor oversight, in
which phones go to people who don’t qualify, and hundreds of thousands of those
who do qualify have more than one phone. Last summer, a Pittsburgh
Tribune-Review story shed some light on a government program that relatively few
Americans knew existed. The Lifeline program provides low-income Americans with
free cell phones.” They’re not smart phones at least, but that’s probably
coming. “It covers up to 250 free minutes each month. As many as 5.5 million
residents in Pennsylvania alone could qualify for the program, which is funded
primarily by the Universal Service Fund fee added to the bills of land-line and
wireless customers.”

So all of us are paying $1.6 billion in our phone bills to cover free phones
and accounts for 12.5 million people. (interruption) Well, I guess you could
probably apply to get you a government phone with your government mortgage
payout. Yeah, you should go for it. You don’t even have to be underwater. You
can apply. Some of these people have more than two phones, more than two
accounts. That’s the thing. Obama’s stash. What else is in there?

No, Obama is not giving out free phones. This is part of the Telecommunications Act of 1996, and apparently has never had any oversight by the FCC. This is one more waste of government money. While a few people probably have been able to look for jobs and get call backs, there probably have been far more who have sold those phones or used them to further their criminal activities. Congress needs to give this one a fresh look. If there is no oversight, then kill the program.

You can't possibly investigate who has a phone they aren't entitled to....it takes too many man hours, and time......it would be self-defeating. THIS IS WHAT they depend on................
and that's why people take advantage. No one is going to CALL THEM ON IT!